E-wallets are more a pain than gain for small traders

Sadashiv Thakur runs a makeshift betel shop on Salunke Vihar Road. Late on Saturday evening, he rushes down to meet a person in a four-wheeler who had just asked for a pack of cigarettes and took out his mobile phone instead of the wallet.Joy Sengupta | TNN | December 19, 2016, 12:09 IST

PUNE: Sadashiv Thakur runs a makeshift betel shop on Salunke Vihar Road. Late on Saturday evening, he rushes down to meet a person in a four-wheeler who had just asked for a pack of cigarettes and took out his mobile phone instead of the wallet.

Following a short, hush-hush conversation, the buyer gives Thakur some money and drives off in a huff.

The 32-year old later explained that the man was a regular customer who wanted to pay via Paytm. “He was stressing on Paytm, which I had used around a month ago but I had to refuse. For small businessmen like me, using e-wallets is now turning into a problem. So, I have removed the small board stating ‘Paytm accepted here’. We buy things from wholesalers who have flatly refused to accept anything but cash. I even requested them to take a cheque but they denied. Under such circumstances, I cannot accept more money via e-wallets,” Thakur, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, said.

Thakur isn’t the lone sufferer. With e-wallets becoming the in-thing amid the ongoing crunch, a lot of small businessmen like vegetable sellers and betel shops owners have been forced to hide their e-wallet payment information as they need liquid cash to buy things from wholesalers.

Thakur’s assistant, who is his cousin and runs another betel shop, said, “I know that if I stand in the bank queue with a cheque, I can take out Rs 24,000 for a week. But this will not solve my problem. We buy things two to three times a week from wholesalers and each purchase is no less than Rs 15,000. We cannot buy lesser as we run out of products soon. Besides, we buy from more than one wholesaler. We have another shop in Fatimanagar where we still use Paytm and customers are pouring in. I know if I put the ‘e-wallet accepted tag’ back here, customers will increase but it is simply not possible now.”

Harmesh Kishan, has a small vegetable store on Kondhwa Road. He has also hidden the ‘e-wallet accepted’ board.

He said, “I am not using it till things improve. At the wholesale market, only cash works. The money paid in e-wallets will go to my account and I don’t have time to take it out and the weekly limit is too little. Only a few wholesalers are accepting cheques”

Another betel shop-cum-tea seller on M G Road was blunt. “The government must ensure wholesalers also accept other forms of payments.They aren’t even accepting cheques. If the government wants us to be flexible, everyone else should also be. I know many of us are open to the idea of e wallets but our circumstances are not letting us use them,” the seller said.

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